IFC Announces Milestone Global Trade Finance Transaction With ABN AMRO

Washington, D.C., October 11, 2005 — The International Finance Corporation has completed the first transaction under its $500 million Global Trade Finance Program.

The transaction supports the confirmation by ABN AMRO of a letter of credit issued by Metropolitan Bank, Pakistan, for import of agricultural commodities (canola) into Pakistan. The IFC guarantee provided risk coverage of 80 percent and enabled the transaction to proceed quickly and efficiently at commercial pricing to the benefit of the exporter and both banks.

The Global Trade Finance Program supports trade with emerging markets worldwide and promotes flows of goods and services between developing countries. IFC provides guarantee coverage of bank risk in emerging markets, allowing recipients to expand their trade finance transactions within an extensive network of countries and banks and to enhance their trade finance coverage.

Kassim Parekh, president and chief executive of Metropolitan Bank, said, “We are very happy to be the first issuing bank to use IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program and look forward to increasing the transaction volume under the program.”

Hanspeter Rellstab, director and global head of Trade Finance Distribution, ABN AMRO, said, “ABN AMRO’s partnership with the IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program has complemented our ability to provide highly efficient trade solutions to our clients’ specific export and import needs and enhance our trade finance business worldwide.”

Jyrki Koskelo, director of IFC’s Global Financial Markets, said, “IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program combines global reach and maximum flexibility covering large and small transactions in challenging countries such as Pakistan. We have a dedicated team of professionals to serve business needs.”

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is headquartered in Washington, D.C. IFC coordinates its activities with the other institutions of the World Bank Group but is legally and financially independent. Its 178 member countries provide its share capital and collectively determine its policies.

The mission of IFC is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing and transition countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. From its founding in 1956 through FY05, IFC has committed more than $49 billion of its own funds and arranged $24 billion in syndications for 3,319 companies in 140 developing countries. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

Netherlands-based ABN AMRO is a leading international bank with total assets of EUR 855.7 billion (as of June 30, 2005). It has more than 3,000 branches in more than 60 countries and territories, and has a staff of about 98,000 full-time equivalents worldwide. ABN AMRO is listed on the Euronext and New York stock exchanges.

ABN AMRO’s Transaction Banking Group (TBG) is a global product organization, coordinating all payments and trade product management for the bank’s wholesale, commercial, private client, and consumer businesses worldwide. ABN AMRO’s Wholesale Clients Strategic (WCS) Business Unit provides integrated corporate and investment banking services in more than 50 countries to institutional, corporate, and public sector clients. WCS specializes in corporate finance and sector advisory; sales, trading, and research in equities and debt; capital markets origination; structured, project, and infrastructure financing; foreign exchange; multi-asset class derivatives; commercial lending; transaction banking and outsourcing.

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International Finance Corporation

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